It had been an idle question on Spike's part, barely an idea at all.

"How did the mirror pool work, anyway?"

Twilight had found it unacceptable that she didn't have an answer so she rolled the boulder from the cave, and got to sciencing. She found that the pool cloned whatever was placed in it in exchange for a bit of organic material, then gave it a jolt of extra energy. A strong enough jolt to raise the dead, and the cloning process wasn't picky about what it started with.

It's been a few months now, the hubbub and hullabaloo has died down, and the ponies of Ponyville use her technology extensively, particularly the cutie mark crusaders.

An alien scientist is startled when Pinkie Pie stumbles across his ship in the woods near Ponyville. For him Pinkie is a problem: he's not allowed to make contact with intelligent natives.

Pinkie Pie is overjoyed when she stumbles across an alien spaceship in the woods near Ponyville. For her the alien is a new friend, to be given a Welcome to Ponyville party with all sorts of treats.

Of course, the alien is really alien- a methane-breather who can't leave his refrigerated ship. His biochemistry is very different from a pony's. Can Pinkie Pie find something he can eat that isn't poison? And can he keep other ponies from finding his hiding place and forcing him to leave before he's had his party?

Tied for second place in the Science Fiction Contest II. First draft released early as a Patreon exclusive, now posted here in edited form for everybody.

EDIT: Wow! Straight to the top of the Featured list! Thanks, everyone!

Part of the Remember Fort Libris print anthology, thanks to our Kickstarter supporters!

Cypress Flash has worked at Station Thirteen as part of the Logistics department for a month, and has had no reason to believe that it would ever be interesting. That changes when one day, he uncovers a perplexing mystery in the form of components missing from the storeroom. It'll be up to him and Kai, the station's only Changeling, to figure out not just who stole these supplies, but also why.

An entry for the 2023 Science Fiction Contest II.

Cover art adapted from this image. All credit goes to the original artist.

Juniper Montage never understood the true price of things. Friendship took effort, fame required talent, and magic?

Magic had its own cost.

My entry to the Science Fiction Contest II.
Set in the same universe as Nature Of Love, though it's not necessary reading.

Graciously pre-read and edited by Krack Fic Kai

Featured on 28/3/23, thank you all.

After an unfortunate accident renders Rainbow Dash unconscious, she wakes in a strange new world filled with hostile pony-like creatures. Stuck in a booming metropolis with unrecognizable technology and a less-than-welcoming reception from its locals, she is desperate to find a way home.

However, she quickly learns that she has bigger concerns. Unrest spreads amongst the inhabitants of this city like wildfire, and Rainbow Dash finds herself in the midst of a society teetering on the brink of revolution.

Submission for the Science Fiction Contest II.

Cover art by Gusty.

Sly Cooper is a master thief who has descended from a long line of other master thieves. His family has kept all their thieving secrets into one book simply known as, The Thievius Raccoonus. However, at the age of 8, Sly's home was ransacked by a horrible gang known as the Fiendish Five. They murdered Sly's family, and stole the Thievius Raccoonus, splitting the pages among themselves so that they themselves can overshadow the Cooper name as the greatest thieves. Sly was sent to an orphanage where he met Bentley and Murray, his lifelong friends and family. As Sly came of age, he began preparing and training to avenge his parents, steal back the Thievius Raccoonus, and bring down the Fiendish Five. As Sly stole his case record from the lovely inspector Carmelita Fox, he was shocked to discover that just a little over two years ago, all members of the Fiendish Five Mysteriously vanished without a trace. All of their last known sightings were at the Krakarov Volcano. In order to track them all down, that's where they are headed. After tracing the Fiendish Five's footsteps perfectly, they all find themselves in a strange new world, one that is dominated by one species, ponies. Sly and his gang soon learn that in this land's greatest treasure and weapon is stolen, the Elements of Harmony. Sly will need help from the inhabitants to get back the Thievius Raccoonus, while the group of Ponies he and his gang have befriended will need them to get back the Elements of Harmony.

The world of Duel Monsters hasn't been kind to Spike lately, defeat after defeat, he thought of giving up, but a powerful spirit of a monster will make him give up on that decision, and a unique team will open the doors to a totally different perspective on the world of dueling than many other duelists.

Retired Special Agent Sweetie Drops has been living in Ponyville as Bon Bon for just over ten years now, and aside from the occasional monster attack or magical mishap, life has been peaceful. She's happily married and has a successful career running a candy shop. Something has been preventing her from properly appreciating the quiet life, however, and that thing's name is Vinyl Scratch. Countless hours of surveillance has convinced Bon Bon of one fact, and it's that whatever Vinyl Scratch is, it's not a pony. Today is the day she gets to the bottom of the mystery that has haunted for her so long: What exactly is Vinyl Scratch, and what does she want with Octavia Melody?

A Submission for the 2023 Science Fiction Contest.

Edit: Featured from March 24th to the 29th? Magnificent. Thank you all so very much!

Edit 2: FEATURED ON EQUESTRIA DAILY!

Art commission done by my friend Raph13th, check him out!

Prophesy says that Twilight Sparkle will not outlive her friends.

To preserve the Princess, her friends must survive.

They may not be immortal - but one year can become a thousand at the speed of light.

An entry for Science Fiction Contest II, where it took a Committee Prize!

Additional tags for spoiler purposes: My Little Pony: A New Generation ; Mane 5

Featured 3/23/2023 - 3/28/2023!

And featured on Equestria Daily on 4/4/2023!

Thanks to my pre-readers: The Sleepless Beholder, Dewdrops on the Grass, daOtterGuy, and Avery Day.